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Vitaly Kafanov
Kazakhstani-Turkmenistani footballer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Vitaly Vitalyevich Kafanov (Russian: Виталий Витальевич Кафанов; Turkmen: Witaliý Witalýewiç Kafanow; born 24 May 1960) is a Kazakhstani-Turkmenistani football coach and a former player. He is the goalkeepers' coach with Russia national football team.
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Club career
He would start his youth career in Turkmen SSR, nowadays Turkmenistan.[2]
He began his professional career with Kolkozchi Ashkhabad. He made his senior football debut in 1982 for this club.[citation needed]
In the USSR championship, he also played for the Sokol Saratov, before spending one season with Uralmash Yekaterinburg in the Soviet First League.[3]
Kafanov has extensive experience in the championship of Kazakhstan for FC Kairat and FC Elimay. He is a three-time champion of Kazakhstan (1992, 1994, 1995) and a two-time winner of the Kazakhstan Cup (1992 and 1995).[citation needed]
He retired at the Nisa Aşgabat in 1998.[4][5]
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Coach career
Russian media consider Kafanov to be one of the country's strongest in free kicks.[6]
Following his playing career, Kafanov became a manager, most recently with FC Rubin Kazan.[7]
At the beginning of his career in Russia in 2001, Kafanov headed Kristall Smolensk, which finished the season in 10th place out of 18.
He worked at Rubin Kazan from 2003 with a break of 3.5 years in 2014–2017. Together with the team, he became twice the champion of Russia, won two Russian Super Cups, one Russian Cup.
In 2014–2015, he was helped to Yuri Krasnozhan in the national team of Kazakhstan.[8]
In 2019, he entered into an agreement with the FC Rostov football club, in which he previously worked from 2015 to 2017.
In July 2021, the Russian Football Union named Kafanov as the goalkeeper coach of the Russia national football team.[9]
On 26 October 2021, FC Rostov announced new appointment of Kafanov as a manager of the team.[10][11] On June 2025 Kafanov announced that he would not be renewing his contract, and would be leaving the club.[12]
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International career
Vitaly Kafanov played for two countries.[13] He has three citizenships: Russia, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.[14][15]
Kafanov made six appearances for the Kazakhstan national football team in 1992.
Kafanov concluded his playing career in Nisa Ashgabat. Initially aiming to transition into coaching, he was given an unexpected opportunity to represent the Turkmenistan national team. He featured in friendly matches against Kuwait and later appeared twice official games against Lebanon during the 1996 AFC Asian Cup qualification, showcasing his talent on the international stage.[16][17]
Honours
Club
Kairat
Managerial honours
Rubin
Rostov
- Russian Premier League runner-up: 2015–16
References
External links
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